The Colorist
Archive

A living archive of how artists work with color across time. Each artist profile scans publicly available works to trace dominant colors, a chromatic fingerprint, and the arc of a palette across a lifetime.A living archive of how artists work with color across time, tracing palettes, fingerprints, and lifetime arcs from public works.

Begin with an artist, carry a palette into the drawing system, or read the wider project.Begin with an artist, carry a palette into the drawing system, or read the wider project.

Scanning works…

Winslow Homer

Homer found more colors in ocean water than any painter before or since. His watercolors shift from emerald to cobalt to near-black within a single wave.

Palette: #52432F #CEB791 #948367 #60381A #7A5940 #9A6D45 #D2AB63 #6D4C20

  • The Brierwood Pipe (1864): #A8BDB7 #433026 #674C38 #37352B #9D8B72 #2D2A25
  • Women Working in a Field (1867): #443217 #2E2516 #161613 #391810 #9A8556 #5E330F
  • Dressing for the Carnival (1877): #3B3B1B #746A43 #24280F #312411 #404B09 #582B14
  • Breezing Up (1873): #74705F #9B8C75 #3B2417 #2F362A #474E40 #5C4C35
  • Children Under a Palm (1885): #87816F #67604C #6C4D3F #C6B897 #3D432F #48302B
  • Eight Bells (1886): #6D6B59 #201713 #55422D #A29E85 #3A2B20 #404942
  • The Bright Side (1865): #674124 #B5D6D6 #A17747 #3C2723 #E1AD67 #261413
  • Mountain Wagon (1869): #382324 #C7AF8D #A0866A #231F22 #7A5A44 #5B3E35
  • The French Farmyard (1867): #332D21 #6C6341 #5E7462 #51462D #221F19 #8A825C
  • Lost on the Grand Banks (1885): #6E6962 #4B4645 #292629 #140D11 #3D261D #5D3D2B
  • Corn Husking (1874): #97674D #725648 #C88E66 #C9B4A3 #948172 #533C38
  • Man with a Scythe (1867): #613919 #FAE3A3 #7A5A26 #57441D #311E14 #492A16
  • Boy and Girl in a Field with Sheep (1877): #8F8E68 #412711 #618B7C #6E4316 #593E1F #2F1C11
  • Lobster Cove, Manchester, Massachusetts (1869): #554A36 #D6CA8E #7C6B3F #BAA768 #3D3930 #8F9577
  • Two Girls with Sunbonnets in a Field (1877): #97A58E #69583E #BDBA96 #4A4337 #948C64 #906F40
  • The Red School House (1873): #93836E #E6BF89 #694018 #795F46 #272313 #4E3E29
  • Sunset (1875): #3D3922 #CEB065 #C1A97E #4E4923 #8B7853 #64551E
  • Albert Post (1864): #523732 #5B504B #758B94 #2C262B #AEAC9C #BA9D7A
  • Woman on the Beach, Marshfield (1874): #C1BAA9 #B69E79 #12110C #8C9185 #302A1F #B18957
  • Spanish Flag, Santiago de Cuba (1885): #C89D84 #D57163 #CFBDA7 #443B38 #70695F #9F6D61

The Palette

The Works

How the palette changed

Chromatic Comparison

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